Summary:
I retain my 2nd place in the 50+ category. I am in 1 piece. Well done John Setford! Yet again, superb race - ideal for the professional and the amateur who wants a fun race.

Background:
Last year to complete midnightman I destroyed my knee and had to have surgery. I had decided to only enter distances of double IM and above - but I bumped into John Steford in halfords(I get all my punctures fixed there - I am their best customer). We discussed and he reminded my how brilliant the first two midnightman had been. I applied and got one of the last 4 places. No surprise that this event has become so incredibly popular. Its becoming a must do race for triathletes.

Preparation:
I still wish to go for longer distances so I am trying to lose weight, de-stress and learn to swim. Hence I was training until until 24 hours before the race - and only started carb loading 24 hours before.

Very bad week at work - including being told that I had to work less hard so I could be less terse with people. Guess where I work? Shop assistant? Health care? No - its investment banking! I was due to leave my digs 4pm and cycle to Dartford - but my wife called at 3:30 to say she had ordered me a taxi. It was her and the kids - driven from North Wales to support! Huge boost.

I had do almost no walking and no running since destrying my knee last year - so very nervous about the run.

Swim:
~01:30. I had been working hard on my swim. But I never quite "felt" the water. Suddenly everything comes together and I feel like I am flying over the water. 3/4 of the way in I cramp. Safety boat comes over - I have to hold it for 5 minutes while swearing. Partly pain and parttly anger. I could have done a 1:20. I see my new swim coach Tuesday - I will be talkiing about my kick and how to avoid cramping.

Bike:
~7:00. I do a 140 mile training cycle recently. But the swim cramping still hurt badly. After 11 laps I was feeling awful. No-one seemed to want to chat. A guy Danny appeared and we did 2 laps together - huge boost for me. After that everyone seemed to be in pairs - the midhightman spirit appeared! The chav end of Dartford was out again. 2 years ago a car "whittily" shouted w**ker at someone. I got called a t**ser. Good to see they are getting funnier - another 100 years and they might be able to walk on their back legs. There are a lot of lovely people in Dartford - I suppose there are a mindless minority everywhere.

Run:
~6:00. I walk fast. I walked almost the entire distance. After lap 3 of 8 my leg hurt really bad. I had visions of destroying my knee. I then realized the pain was cramp from the swim - and by compensating I had put too much pressure on the muscle under the knee. Many thanks to Marshall Sam who kept up with me most of the way - even though I suspect it was to stop me cheating! Considering I have done limited walking and no jogging/running for a year I am ecstatic.

Aftermath:
~14:40 including transitions. 6 hours after and I have slept and eaten. I actually feel like walking another marathon - it was that much fun. No damage done to my body. I looked at the midnightman results for previous years - 6 had done the full last 2 years. Only 3 had entered - and Dallas had dropped out 24 hours to go. So that left just myself and Richard Dudman. I wonder if he finished?

Next:
Brutal as a single in 5 weeks time. More losing weight. SWimming lessons. "Bonking"(running out of energy) on the bike then re-fuelling on the go. Getting a running lesson to minimise knee impact. More walking and running.

Next year I want to do enduroman (no idea whether individual or continuous and what distance). Midnightman (if I can get a place - I must book early). Brutal as a double. Some long distance swimming events including sea swimming.

Long term - channel swim. Brutal deca - channel swim, cycle Lands End to John O'Groats, run across Wales. So its roughly deca distances.